In Part 1, I laid out some of the challenges of doing ecommerce in groceries. And two innovative business models that attempted to make it work. One by Alibaba Freshippo and one by Dingdong. Both very interesting. Both, especially Dingdong, being unprofitable. In the past month, both companies have announced operating profits. That was really […]
Alibaba’s Freshippo and Dingdong are two of the leading ecommerce grocery companies in China. They have achieved profitability by reducing costs and improving margins. Some of the strategies they have used include:
Opening physical stores that serve as fulfillment centers for online orders
Using data analytics to optimize inventory levels and pricing
Offering same-day delivery
The strategies that Freshippo and Dingdong have used can be applied to other ecommerce grocery markets around the world.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses how specialty ecommerce companies can thrive against the giants. He identifies five key factors for success: differentiated user experience, competitive logistics, strong competitive advantage, clear path to operational cash flow, and avoidance of markets and situations that are attractive or strategic for the major ecommerce companies. He argues that specialty ecommerce companies can succeed by focusing on specific niches and providing a superior user experience.
Given the political shake-up in China tech, I’ve been shifting my focus to smaller companies that: Are not of a size that puts them on the radar for anti-trust regulation. Will benefit from government constraints on the giants. So I’ve recently written about NetEase, the #2 player in gaming in China. Is NetEase a Buying […]
There are a lot of interesting ecommerce plays at the intersection of food and on-demand services. Meituan, GoJek, Grab and Dingdong to name a few. I recently wrote about how Dingdong was doing on-demand fresh produce as a specialty ecommerce play. Dingdong vs. Oriental Trading: How to Spot the Specialty Ecommerce Winners (1 of 2) […]
In Part 1 – and in Podcast 90 (Can Dingdong Win in Groceries and Specialty Ecommerce?), I teed up questions about how specialty ecommerce companies win and lose. It’s a really useful strategy question to think about. Here’s why. Imagine a small ecommerce company emerges and gets some traction with a clever product. Or in […]